In the US, you can actually get a specially built insurance policy that acts as a savings/retirement account. There's a significant tax advantage to it, and you gain a lot of financial flexibility once it's funded. It's not a complete replacement for other forms of retirement saving, but provides a nice bit of diversification. You can read more about it here.
BTW, I follow gold markets fairly closely through several financial newsletters and I've always been impressed by how Indians treat gold (esp. jewelry) as a form of savings. It's unfortunate that that's pretty rare. Of course, gold has some drawbacks, but once again it's about diversification.
We have some similar products in the insurance sector as well. While they are great, it makes sense to to invest in a slightly high-risk, high-yield investments when you are in your 20s even 30s.
We have small shopping mall sized jewellery stores in my city! Gold is bought like vegetables in the market on some days! haha!
I'll check the link. Thanks for the same. Hope to see your comments on your future articles as well! :)